By Ty Sanges
Taylor Swift’s impact worldwide is undeniable. The pop superstar’s recent “Eras Tour” became the highest-grossing tour of all time, and the global sensation’s impact can be seen everywhere through her smash hits and quotable lyrics. Her massive influence now extends to Springfield College, where a popular new class this semester focused on the superstar herself through the lens of her lyrics.
Last spring, Jill Giebutowski, an Assistant Professor of Writing in the Literature, Writing, and Journalism department decided to create a course about Swift for Springfield College’s LifeLong Learning program. This program allows adults aged 55 and up to learn from faculty and staff in the form of in-class sessions. The four-class sequence explored Swift’s cultural influence. Using their disciplines as a lens, Giebutowski and three other Springfield College professors dove into Swift’s lyrics as literature, her genius public relations strategies, her media representation and her impact on the economy.
As a part of this program, Giebutowski and former student Rishi Lamichhane presented a class using Swift’s lyrics as literature. As a result of the success of the course, Anne Wheeler, the chair of Literature Writing and Journalism, encouraged Giebutowski to develop and teach an entire course about Swift. Just like that, Springfield College’s most unique class was born.
English 215, known as Taylor Swift: Stories & Confessions, has quickly become a popular class on campus. With limited seats available, the course is filled rapidly by many who love Taylor Swift, those who would consider themselves “Swifties,” and has become a large talking point among students interested in the class. One fan of the class is junior Maeve Voltz, who has enjoyed Swift’s music for a long time.
“I decided to take this class because I have listened to Taylor Swift since I was a little girl and still listen to her music,” Voltz said. “I had the opportunity to take a class that talks about her most of the time, so I went for it.”
The content covered in the class is related to Swift and literature similar to her work. Giebutowski organized the course into four units.
These units were broken down into students studying Shakspearean sonnets and relating them to Swift’s lyrics, confessional-style poetry and its similarities to the Swift’s writing style, comparing themes from a novel to Swift’s lyrics, and lastly looking at the “Mad Woman” trope throughout literature and gender roles.
Despite the wide variety of topics discussed, Giebutowski noted how class always starts the same way every day.
“At the beginning of the semester, every person in the class put down a Taylor Swift song that they wanted to have played,” Giebutowski said. “So we start every class by playing that song, just to kind of kick it off, and then whoever picked it that day says what they think about the song, so we always have a little bit of Taylor every day.”
Another student in the class, senior Natalie Billet, highly recommends the class to those who can get into it.
“Anybody who enjoys Taylor Swift or wants to learn more about the relationship between literature, music and society should take this class,” Billet said. “It’s entertaining and educational, and you’ll learn more about the ways that popular music can be as deep as traditional writing.”
The class has been one of Giebutowski’s favorites to teach. As a Taylor Swift fan herself, Giebutowksi has been able to make deep connections with her students through the music and lyrics.
In addition, she has found great joy in bringing the entire class together, even those who initially were not the biggest Swift fans, all thanks to the relatability of the pop icon. Giebutowski believes the class can have a significant impact on those who take it, beyond just the basics of learning about Swift and her songs.
“I think that songs and music is a way for people to do a lot of things, but it especially helps people to understand the world better,” Giebutowski said. “Literature does the same thing, so it’s pretty cool to be able to connect the two.”
(Photo by Kaitlyn Kupiec/The Student)